Stephen Rees's blog

“Everybody on Earth is feeling the same way as you” asserts a sign posted recently in the City of Vancouver.

When I saw that sign my first thought was “What makes you think that?” I suppose it must be some reference to the current pandemic. But my experience tells me that not all of us think the same way about the events we are living through. And this assertion seems to me to be quite easy to disprove.

I posted this image to Twitter and then added a number of thoughts of my own. I seem to have made a mess of the threading process and it got a bit derailed by a misunderstanding with a commenter, so I thought I could set matters straight here.

Here is a very far from comprehensive list of those who definitely are not feeling the same way as me:

There is a small group of highly privileged people who feel now is the time to travel to warmer climes.

There are a large number of people who are very anxious about when they will get the vaccine.

There are people who have made lots of money thanks to the pandemic.

There are people who feel it is really important to try and reverse the result of the last US presidential election

There are people who are utterly certain that there is a God, and that he is an old white male who prefers them over everyone else.

There are people who feel that by driving a Tesla and installing solar panels in their summer home that they have done more than enough to qualify as environmental activists.

There are people who are optimistic about the future of humanity on this planet.

There are people who are more concerned about ducks than you or me. “Foie gras is produced by force-feeding ducks”. [From an email I got from one of the petition generation sites.] No it’s geese actually.

I am pretty sure if I had conducted a survey of my Twitter readers I would have got a very mixed bag of “feelings” – and if you think you can add something feel free to comment below. One thing I know for certain is that everyone carries their own bag of hammers (credit Michael J Fox for that one) and their feelings are going to be very different on any subject you choose. I know of individuals right now whose feelings have very little to do with the pandemic but very much on their recent experiences. The loss of a mother to suicide. The surprising recovery of a husband not suffering from Covid but a very serious condition indeed: we thought that he was going to die and he is getting better.

There are also people who seem convinced that Covid won’t hurt them. The blithe certainty of a family we know that seems to think that many “bubbles” can overlap with no risk. The people who gathered in downtown Vancouver – and elsewhere – to protest the requirements to wear masks.